PNR RailWorks and NARSTCO Join Forces on Award-Winning Project

PNR RailWorks and NARSTCO played key roles in an award-winning project in the Greater Toronto area.

Completed in 2018, the Whitby Rail Maintenance Facility (WRMF) project recently won the 2020 Canadian Design-Build Institute (CDBI) Design-Build Award of Excellence. Constructed and designed by Stantec, Kiewit and Bird Construction, the WRMF is a new $859 million facility built to accommodate Metrolinx/GO Transit’s ongoing expansion and future ridership due to population growth in the Greater Toronto area.

PNR RailWorks, which has been maintaining the Metrolinx GO network for more than 10 years, served as the rail contractor for the project beginning in 2016. The WRMF project is one of the largest and most complex projects PNR RailWorks has worked on.

PNR RailWorks’ role included:

• Installing about 15,000 meters of track: 2,225 meters of direct fixation and pedestal track inside the facility and 12,737 meters of NARSTCO steel tie track in the yard
• Installing 52 NARSTCO steel tie turnouts

In total, NARSTCO supplied approximately 20,000 steel ties and 52 steel turnouts to the WRMF project. NARSTCO’s sales and engineering teams worked closely with Metrolinx and the project’s Engineer, Stantec, in developing project specifications and material requirements, which included custom designs for some of the turnouts.

“NARSTCO has worked with GO Transit on various projects for nearly 15 years. It was an honor to work with the entire project team and provide our steel ties and turnouts to this key rail facility,” said Matt Violin, NARSTCO Senior Director of Sales and Marketing.

The WRMF project was challenging for all parties involved. As a multidisciplinary design-build project with tight timelines and an evolving design, the multiple stakeholders worked simultaneously with high levels of coordination to achieve successful project completion.

“PNR RailWorks is proud to have been part of this innovative project,” said Arash Barzegar, Vice President of Commercial at PNR RailWorks. “The Whitby Rail Maintenance Facility is providing the GO Transit network with increased efficiency and operations, and we’re grateful for our role in the project.”

Congratulations to the PNR RailWorks and NARSTCO teams for their dedication and hard work on this dynamic rail facility!

Established in 2002, the annual CDBI Awards of Excellence recognize excellence in Canada’s design-build industry and projects that contribute to the growth of the design-build profession.